Chowdmouse--Very good insight into someone with antisocial personality disorder.
I don't think someone on this spectrum would really ever go for readings for any purpose besides trying to manipulate the reader anyway. It is the same as someone on this spectrum seeking therapy. Most therapists will refuse to treat someone whom they suspect have this disorder because they don't really want to be fixed--they see their disorder as a benefit. And they can manipulate so easily. Therapy is more of a game for them then a tool.
However, I think it is useful to be able to pick up on the dynamics when you are reading for someone who might be a target of someone with ASPD. I just divorced one. And no, he isn't diagnosed--most aren't--but the patterns and destruction he has caused all points to this. He flipped the switch on me after I started asking too many questions about the "friend" that ended up replacing me. After I took over the finances and didn't give him free reign over my bank account. After he changed the passwords to our joint account I started asking him for them. For the first time in 14 years of marriage I saw what was behind the high priestesses curtain.
I finally got to see the side that he kept hidden. Throughout our relationship I would see flashes of, but then he would turn it off so fast that I thought I was imagining it. I would tell myself I was just being silly. The icy eyes would flash and melt away just as quickly. We all knew to move away from him without understand why, but then the man I loved would reappear and I convinced myself it was just me.
The convert ones are the most dangerous. They are the heroes, the philanthropists, the popular ones who are the "salt of the earth". Always sticking up for the little guy while they are tearing him down. They are the ones who always have the "crazy exes" and people believe them because they target people they deem weaker. They build them up by focusing on flaws and insecurities. And they make those flaws seem bigger than they are, while they are also love bombing them because of those flaws. You open up because you trust them, because they love everything about you, especially the things you hate most about yourself. Then suddenly one day--everything they loved about you, that you started embracing about yourself--gets dumped on you in a way that leaves you confused and broken and agreeing that you are worthless, crazy, never enough. And you discover that they have been slandering you to your entire social circle (that they have pared down and picked out for you without you realizing it) for those very reasons that they claimed they loved about you. And you AGREE--you take all the blame--you beat yourself up wondering how you failed this person so badly. When the switch flips everyone believes the sociopath--even you.
Well, not everyone--the people who don't believe him, he had long since cut out of both of your lives--isolated you from anyone who might call attention to reality of the situation. You are left alone on an island unsure of what happened. And if you are still in the middle of the confusion he will continue to play with you, like a cat with a mouse--to get as much info as he can to make sure the discard leaves you stripped of everything that ever mattered to you (even your children--which my ex almost accomplished but luckily I wised up and got a very good lawyer).
So I do think it is valuable to see when someone is the target of a person with this personality type.
I stepped away from reading for a while, but recently I was wondering about my ex and the new target. Sometimes the cognitive dissonance he caused makes me question of it really was just me, and I was just imagining everything. If maybe now with her, he is the man I believed him to be for real. So I dusted off my Robin Wood deck and started asking questions again.
And the same cards come up for him now that used to come up for him before when I was confused and caught in the sweet cycle (before the discard). For her, 5 of cups, lovers, moon, 5 of pentacles (same as what I used to get)--someone jumping through hoops that keep moving. She also gets 7 of swords often.
For him--4 of cups, 5 of swords, magician, king of swords, emperor. Nothing has changed. New target, same man. My kids have to deal with it 50% of the time and there isn't anything I can do about it. When I was there I would take them out when he would go into his silent rages. Rumor has it she is doing the same (but with 5 kids caught up in this mess). He used to get 7 of swords with readings regarding our relationship.
For my daughter, 2 of pentacles, 5 of swords, 10 of swords
Her daughters are getting something similar except there is a lot of Moon and Devil appearances when I ask about how they are doing. They never see their dad so they are stuck in that chaos all of the time. My kids at least only have to deal with it 50% of the time.
For my son 8 of cups, 6 of swords, hermit--I think he has learned appropriate strategies when it comes to dealing with his dad. When he is with me he isn't reclusive so I think he is ok. When he is with them he locks himself in his room--which makes my daughter upset but it works for him. When the new woman takes all of the kids out when ex is in a mood, son who is the oldest stays behind. Ex and my son actually bond in a way they never did before so I think it is good for their relationship.
I am curious to see if anyone else has seen similar patterns when reading about a situation like this.